Apparatus for scenic and musical effects.



A. L. MOMURTRY.

APPARATUS FOR sonmc AND MUSICAL EFFECTS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6, 1911.

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, APPARATUS FOR SCENIC AND MUSICAL EFFECTS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6, 1911.

Patnted Sept. 2, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR WITNESSES M; fiAwLL ALDEN mommrmz, or seem) BEACH, CONNECTICUT.

APPARATUS FOR SCENIC AND MUSICAL EFFECTS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed fla 3, 1911. Serial No. 625,445.

Patented Sept. '2, 1913.

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I,ALDEN L. MoMUii'rRY, a citizen of theUnited- States, and a resident of Sound Beach, in Fairfiel county and State of Connecticut, United States of America, have invented certain new an useful Improvements in Ap aratus for Scenic and Musical Effects, 0 which t e following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for pro ducing novel scenic and musical effects, and is especially designed for" theatrical purposes. I will describe my invention in the following specification and point out the novel features thereof in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 shows a portion of a representation of a stall of music with various notes thereon, together with diagrammatic views of certain electrical apparatus and connecting circuits. tion of some parts of the apparatus and shows a development of my invention. In.

Fig. 3 a portion of a modified form of cirvation, and sectional plan View, respectively.-

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in all of the figures.

10 designates a pictorial representation of a stafi of music with notes thereon. This may be a drop-scene but is preferably constructed on a frame whic may be either supported on the'stage or suspended in desire position. The staif may be painted, and so may the notes, or the latter ma be. cut out of some insulating material an affixedto the material on which the staff is pictured. The notes, are designate in the drawings by 11. Through each note p'roject a air of fixed electrodes 12 and 13. One of these electrodes for each note is connected with a common wire 14. From the otherelectrode of each 'note runs a separate and independent conductor to a circuit controller 20, as will be specifically ointed out hereinafter.

15 is a battery which 1s connected through a switch 16 with the primary winding of will he energized. 4 c

an induction coil 17. .The wire l t isconnected with one of the terminals of the secondary winding of this coil, and the other terminal of this winding is connected with the controller 20 by a wire 18. Ifdesired a condenser 19 may be connected between the wires 14 and 18.

The circuit controller 20 comprisesa flat rotary disk 21 of insulating material, and some arra'n -'eme'nt for rotating it about its axis at a s ow rate of movement. For. example, the periphery of the disk may be toothed or provided with a gear in which meshes'a manually rotatable pinion 22. On the disk are fastened in desired positions a plurality of contacts such as 23, 24, .25, 26, 27- 28, and 29. A 0 is a stationary contact maker which is suitably held above the disk 21 in such a position as to bear upon the disk contacts when they are moved under it. The wire 18 is connected with this contactmaker 30.

Before more particularly pointing out the modifications which are e own 1? will describe the operation of the apparatus which is illustrated in Fi ,1.

When the switch 16 is closed, the induction coil 17, which is of the vibratory type, lectrical impulses in rapid succession will then he set up in the secondary winding of this coil. The device 10 with itsstafi and notes is placed in de-' sired position and the stage partlydarkened, Now, when the pinion 22 is rotated the disk will revolve and the contact23 will be broughtinto engagement with the con-' tact 30.- The contact 23 is connected by a wire 23A with the fixed electrode 13 of the first note 11. As its other electrode 12 is a ways connected with the wire 14:, the terminals of the secondary winding of the induction coil will be connected with the two electrodes 12 and 13, and this will cause sparks to jump across the gap in front of this first note as long as the contact23 remains under the contact 30.. Further movement of the disk 21 brings contact 24 under contact 30, and as this is connected by a wire 24A with the second note 11, the sparks will now appear in front of it.

in the same way the other contacts 25, 26,27, 28 and 29,- when disk.

they come under the contact'30, will cause the other notes shown on the staff to be successively illuminated by the sparks- Itis to be noted that the arc-lengths of the disk contacts correspond with the time values of the notes on the staff. They are alsov shown at different distances from the axis of rotation for use with the modification shown in Fig.2, but so far as the arrangement in Fig. 1 is concerned, the disk contacts might all be an equal ,distance from the axis of the It is to be understood that this apparatus is to be used in conjunction with music, instrumental or vocal, and that as the music progresses, the notes on the staff,

- which correspond with the music, become note or notes 11, on the scenic scale.

successively illuminated as the particular tone which it represents is played or sung.

Electricsparks jumping acrossgaps like those formed between the electrodes 12 and 13 make a considerable noise. By suitably adjusting the coils which induce these sparks, their frequency may be varied to cause this noise to have a desired pitch. In the diagram shown in Fig. 2, an arrangement for utilizing this fact is illustrated. A plurality of induction coils are used, in this case eight, corresponding with the notes ofone octave of the major scale. These coils are designated in the drawings by 17F, 17G, 17A, 17Bb, 17C, 17D, 17E, 17 and each coil is so adjusted that it may cause sparks to jump across air gaps between fixed electrodes in the scale 10, at-such frequency as to produce a sound of a pitch, like that represented by its corresponding 11 this case the contact maker 30A comprises a. plurality of independent contacts, one being provided for each of the induction coils. When this arrangement is used the rotation of the disk 21 first brin s the disk contact 23 under that one of t e contacts of the contact maker 30A which is designated in Fig. 2 by the letter C. This is connected with the coil 17 C. When these contacts come together it causes the sparks which jump across the face of the first note 11 to make a sound, the pitch of which is that of the note C shown on the staff. The disk contact 24: next comes under contact .Bb which is connected with the coil 17Bb, and this combination causes sparks to jump across the face of the second note on the staff in proper frequency to produce a sound on the pitch of Bb. Similarly, the other notes will be successively illuminated and the sparks which illuminate them will pro-v duce the tune which the notes on the staff represent, and this effect may be used either by itself or in conjunction with the simultaneous production of the same .tune by voice ormusical instrument, or both.

In Fig. 3 a portion of a circuit controller induction coil 170. On the opposite side a of the disk 21 are affixed other contacts such as 23, with which" a stationary contact a coacts to open and close a circuit between contacts 31 and 32. These are placed in the diagram of Fig. 2 in the position indicated therein by the numeral 33, and control the circuit of the primary winding of the coil 17C. These secondary and primary circuit controllers are of course arranged to work together, and a similar pair of them is provided for each note on the scale 10. The operation is like that previously desc1'ibed, but the coils in this case are only energized during such intervals as those in which the voltage induced by them is utilized.

What I claim is.-

1. The combination with 'a scenic representation of a musical note, of means for causing electric sparks tojump across the face of said .note.

2. The combination with a scenic representation ofa plurality of musical notes, of means for causing electric sparks to jump across the face of said notes successively.

3. The combination with a scenic representation of a musical note, of means for causin electric sparks to jump across the faceo said note at such frequencies as to produce a sound at the pitchv of said note.

4. The combination with a scenic representation of a plurality of musical notes, of means for causing electric sparks to jump across the faces of the notes at such frequencies as to produce sounds at the-respective pitches of said notes.

5. The combination with a scenic representation of a musical note, of a pair of electrodes for said note, a battery, an induction coil, electrical connections, and a circuit controller in said connections. 7

6. The combination with a scenic representation of a plurality of musical notes, of a pair of electrodes for each of the notes, a battery, a plurality of induction coils, each ad'usted to produce electrical impulses at di erent frequencies, electrical connections, and a circuit controller in said connections.

7. The combination with a scenic representation, of aplurality of successive musical notes, of a pair of electrodes for each of said notes, a batte a plurality of induction coils, each adjus edto produce electrical impulses at different frequencies, electricahconnections, a circuit controller be-- In testimony whereof have signed my tween the coils and the notes in said connecname to thisspemfication 1n the presence of tlons, sald circuit controller being arranged two subscribing Witnesses.

to connect successively and during desired ALDEN L. MOMURTRY. 5 intervals of time each'note with its respec- Witnesses:

tive coil, and means for actuating the circuit ELLA TESCH,

controller. ERNEST W. MARSHALL. 

